


The Merry-Go-Round of Life

by strangerahne



Series: Writing Exchange Pieces! [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Book 1: Howl's Moving Castle, Costume Party, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28103418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strangerahne/pseuds/strangerahne
Summary: Adrien is having a Christmas Costume Party! Hoping to catch up on the parties he missed, he throws a big party and puts a puzzle in each invitation. Can Marinette solve her puzzle in time?
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Writing Exchange Pieces! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2191671
Comments: 6
Kudos: 75
Collections: Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir One-Shots Holiday Edition, Miraculous Ladybug and Cat/Chat Noir Reveal





	The Merry-Go-Round of Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [peachcitt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachcitt/gifts).



> So this fic does have some photos that accompany it. The first is one that has the code from the puzzle. The picture of the code is a piece of paper that says:  
> QSBoaW50IGZvciBhIGpvdXJuZXkgd2Ugc2hhcmVkOgpodHRwczovL2ltZ3VyLmNvbS9hLzJ0oE5VWjc=  
> The link does work that is found later.  
> Happy Secret Santa Peachcitt!!!  
> Here is the tumblr link if you want to see the photos!  
> https://strangerahne.tumblr.com/post/637632592292741120/surprise-peachcitt-i-am-your

Marinette stared down at what had to be arguably the most weeb thing she had ever received from Adrien. And he had once given her the full Sailor Scout transformation pen collection because she had mentioned in passing she had enjoyed the show _once_. With Gabriel and Nathalie in jail for their crimes as Hawkmoth and Myura, Adrien was living with his bodyguard and had been given considerably more freedom. Freedom to be himself, and see his friends, and just simply live how he wanted. 

Which all circled back to this: Adrien stood in front of her hopping on the balls of his feet, as she looked over the envelope covered in various anime sayings and stickers in the hallway before class.

“Well, open it,” Adrien squeaked out at her. 

With a heavy sigh, Marinette opened the envelope to pull out a piece of paper. It was also covered in various anime pictures. The katakana for cake was along the side. Marinette looked it over a few times. There were other various kanji and hiragana on the handmade invitation. 

“Okay, I give in, what is this?” Marinette asked, pointing to one line on the paper.

“Oh, that is the time,” Adrien replied.

“Time for?” 

“My party,” Adrien grinned at her.

Marinette racked her brain for what was staring her in the face. She had been so busy lately with her various commissions and school work that she had lost track of time. Then it hit her. She smacked her forehead. This was an invitation.

“For the party, you were promised,” she said. 

With the chaos of transferring guardianship of Adrien and his father’s court cases, he had completely missed celebrating his 18th birthday. The Gorilla, of course, had promised that as soon as he felt comfortable, he could throw a party for his friends. 

“Exactly! And since it is coming up on the holiday season, figured there was no better time for a party!” Adrien exclaimed, his excitement too much to have noticed the brief moment his friend had spaced on the day. “And you are invited. It is a costume party, so show up in your best cosplay. Even though the invitation is general anime, I thought it could be cool if everyone could dress as their favorite Ghibli character or something. So yeah. And I put a puzzle on each one. It will have more party info once you solve it.”

“A costume party for a Christmas party?” she questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

“Okay, I admit, it isn’t the most traditional, but Gorilla said I could have any kind of party I wanted and this is what I want so yeah,” Adrien crossed his arms. He was trying to pout but failing. 

“Okay, costumes it is. Tell me more about this then.”

Marinette couldn’t help smiling at his excitement. Ever since catching Hawkmoth a few months prior, Marinette and Adrien’s relationship had been different. It was that day that she had figured out just who her Chaton was. But she was still unsure if she should confront him about it. It had helped her calm down around him, and get to become better friends. They had, of course, been friends for quite some time now, but this helped them become even closer. She was able to put aside her crush on him and just be the friend he so desperately needed. 

The bell rang, letting them know it was time to go in for class. As they parted ways, Marinette gave the invitation a once over again before putting it away with a chuckle.

*****

Marinette sat in her room. She looked over the invitation for the millionth time, trying to figure out what on earth the puzzle could be. So far the invitation was just that. There was no extra anything. As she started to turn the paper over in her hands again, the paper slipped and started to fall towards the ground. She reached to grab it but just barely missed it. The paper instead floated lightly towards the ground and landed under her rolling chair. With an exasperated sigh, she rolled the chair back to reach it. As she moved, she could hear a slight ripping noise, and her heart sank. Looking down, she saw that the invitation had a slight rip on it from catching in the wheel of the chair. 

She moved the chair. When she reached down for the invitation, she noticed that the paper was only ripped on the top. There were letters inside. Her heart quickened as she checked the sides of the invitation. They were glued slightly together.

“How had I not noticed this before?” she mumbled mostly to herself.

“I am not sure. I didn’t notice it either though,” Tikki replied. 

Marinette carefully opened and unfolded the paper, revealing a jumbled mess of letters on a light blue background. She turned the paper every which way, just in case it was in a language she didn’t understand, but still, there it sat, jumbled.

“Tikki, does any of this make sense to you?” She held the paper up to her kwami.

“Hmmm, not at the moment, but maybe after staring at it for a while I could figure something out,” Tikki happily replied. “Why don’t you work on your costume for the party, and I will stare at this some more.”

Marinette nodded and got to work researching on her computer. She had seen a few different animes but had never really considered which she might cosplay from. She remembered Adrien’s words, _everyone could dress as their favorite Ghibli character._ She had a feeling he mentioned that specifically since she had seen many Ghibli movies with him on both sides of the mask. 

She pondered over which character she could make the best costume for. There was Chihiro from _Spirited Away_. She chuckled to herself; she could go as Kiki, after all, she already had a black cat. But then again, that would be an easier costume, plenty of people would probably be Kiki. No, that wouldn’t work. Maybe she could make a costume based upon what she guessed Adrien might go as. 

She tapped her finger to her chin. _That weeb’s knowledge is too vast. There is no way I can figure out what costume he is going to use_. She started to weigh the pros and cons of each Ghibli heroine. Finally, she settled on Nausicaä. It was one of her favorites, and making the costume would be fun. Especially if she dyed the fabric herself. Plus if she finished with enough time, she could even fashion a purse to look like one of the Olms. Pleased with her design idea, she rolled away to get started, leaving the puzzling paper behind. 

*****

It was the day before the party, and while she had more or less finished her costume, the puzzle still eluded her. She could not make heads or tails of the jibber there. She had tried reading it out loud, but that didn’t help. She even tried reading it backward. So there she sat, holding the paper in her hands in the courtyard at school. She hated to admit it, but she needed help.

“What you got there Marinette?” Max asked, looking over her shoulder.

“AH!” she startled. “Ah, sorry Max. I, uh, a puzzle.”

“Oh, very nice. Adrien really did individualize each puzzle. Mine was art based,” Max declared, pushing his glasses up. “I would have solved it eventually, but Markov helped me with the last bit.”

“Man, I wish I had an art-based one,” Marinette sighed. “As it is, I have no idea what this is.” She handed the paper to Max, hoping that he would look it over.

Max stared at it for a brief moment, “It is encoded. I assume it is base 64 or something along those lines, but it is encoded just the same.”

“Encoded?” Marinette sat up, “Is there any way you can decode it for me?”

“No, not without the proper software,” Max chuckled. “I appreciate your confidence in me though. You can find various decoders online. Just do a quick search,” Max nodded his head at her as he turned to walk away. “Good luck, Marinette!”

*****

Back at her home, Marinette rushed up the stairs, curiosity getting the better of her. She decided to go with Max’s first suggestion and searched for a base 64 decoder. After finding one, she pulled the paper out. She began to type in the code. She meticulously followed the capitalization that Adrien had laid out for her. 

“QSBoa,” she read to herself, double-checking.

“Why don’t I read it out loud to you Marinette?” Tikki offered. “That way you are more likely to get it right the first time.” 

The duo carefully typed in all the letters, then clicked the decode button. There on the screen was a small message for her:

A hint for a journey we shared:  
https://imgur.com/a/2t8NUZ7

She recognized the second half as a link and quickly copied it to her browser bar. As she hit enter, she felt butterflies in her stomach. Then an image loaded. It was obvious that Adrien had drawn it himself and scanned it into the computer. Some simple photoshop effects were also used to give a glow to the picture. It was simply titled, “That Can’t Be Good For The Table.” The image and the title felt so familiar to her. She decided that rather than google the image title, she would simply think about it more. 

“Oh, that looks very familiar Marinette,” Tikki chimed in. “Perhaps it is a hint for something? Do you know what show it is from?” 

“Not off the top of my head,” she replied. “I think I have only seen three or four Ghibli movies with Adrien, you know, as Adrien. But I don’t think that is in any of them.” 

“Well, which ones have you seen?” Tikki asked.

“Well, we watched _Spirited Away,_ _Nausicaa_ , _Porco Rosso_ , and T _ales from Earthsea_.”

They sat in silence for a moment.

“Do you know which one is his favorite?” Tikki tried.

“That’s easy, _Kikis…_ ” Marinette stopped talking and looked up at her Kwami. “We have watched way more movies together as Marinette and Chat Noir. Chat Noir told me that _Howl’s Moving Castle_ and _Kiki’s Delivery Service_ were his two favorites.” 

“Maybe he was confused about which persona was watching them with you,” Tikki shrugged, a trying grin on her face. Marinette just stared deadpan at her. “Yeah,” the kwami conceded, “I don’t believe that one either.”

“Tikki, this means he knows I know,” Marinette exclaimed, waving her arms wildly. “That or he wants me to know that he knows.”

Tikki buzzed with excitement. “Oooh! That is so exciting! And what will you say?”

“What do you mean, what will I say?” Marinette scoffed.

“Well, you have always loved Adrien, and you have slowly come to love Chat Noir for the loving scoundrel he is. You have always held yourself back out of fear and expectations of failure,” Tikki explained, “But now you know that he is both, and you know he loves you. So what will you say?” 

Marinette looked at her kwami, scrunching her brow in thought. “I am not sure, but I know one thing, the party is tomorrow, and I have a new costume to make.” 

Marinette pulled out her sketchbook and got to work. 

“It is a good thing it is Friday then,” Tikki giggled as she got ready to help her chosen with the sudden project.

*****

Adrien shuffled around his room, putting on the finishing touches to his costume. He had put several personalized puzzles for each of his friends in their invitations, but none had the special message that Marinette’s did. True, he wished it had been more special than a drawing and some code, but it would have to work. He fixed the pendant earrings in place one last time before tussling his darkened hair again.

“Relax, I am sure Marinette figured it out by now,” Plagg chided, floating lazily in the air next to him. 

“I know, I know, but I am gonna feel really silly if she shows up as someone else; then how can I flirt in a canon-compliant way, Plagg?” Adrien whined. 

“That is what will make you feel silly?” the kwami retorted. 

Adrien shot a glare at him. 

Plagg sighed, “Look, we have gone over this a lot. I know the deal kid.” He flew over and patted Adrien on his head. “You two will dance together when the Merry-Go-Round of Life song comes on, and it will be wonderful and amazing.” The kwami began flying around, acting each step out. “Then you will ask her to walk with you, we go out the ballroom doors, cause, of course, you have a ballroom in this house, and then you lead her over to the statue of your mom. You confess, I curse the bacon, you kiss, we have a good night.” 

“And you will wear the little costume I made for you?” Adrien asked, holding up a poorly sewn orange hat that at one point might have been flames. 

Plagg rolled his eyes. “For the millionth time: I am the God of Destruction, destroyer of dinosaurs. I don’t wear costumes.”

“Not even for extra camembert?” 

“No.” Plagg glared. 

“Well, I will put it in my coat pocket. If you change your mind you know where it is,” Adrien huffed. Fluffing his hair one last time, he grabbed his coat and put it on. “Let’s go greet our guests then,” he declared to the kwami, flashing him a devilish smile. 

*****

Adrien had been greeting guests and mingling for about an hour. It seemed that when he told his classmates they were welcome to invite others, they took it to heart. He imagined most of it was Wayham’s doing. He chuckled to himself. Checking down at his watch once more, he sighed. He hadn’t seen Marinette come in yet. Maybe Alya or Nino knew where she was. He craned his neck to look for his friends. As a San and Ashitaka from _Princess Mononoke_ turned, he noticed it was them. 

He made his way over to them, edging around the crowd that had taken to the dance floor. 

“Alya, Nino! Nice costumes,” he called out as he got closer to them.

“Adrien, my dude! You look just like Howl!” Nino replied.

The three friends exchanged pleasantries for a moment before Adrien got to the main topic. 

“Have you guys seen Marinette?” Adrien asked while looking around the room. “I haven’t seen her yet. I hope she can make it.”

“Don’t worry, Sunshine, she should be here soon,” Alya replied. “She had to fix her costume or something.” Alya stopped talking, her eyes narrowing as she leaned in. “Is there a particular reason you are looking for my girl there, Sunshine? Hoping she will match you?”

Adrien could feel his face heat up. “Ah, what? No. I just don’t want her to miss the live band that starts soon.” He looked down at his shoes and took a deep breath. Who was he fooling, he might as well be honest, embrace it. Just like for the character he was dressed up as, there came a time to stop running, and Adrien figured it might as well be now. “Actually, yeah, I do. I have something very important to ask her, and I _really_ do hope she matches me. I didn’t tell her who I was dressed as, but I did give her a hint in her invitation puzzle.”

“About time, my dude,” Nino cheered, smacking Adrien on the back. “Max told me he helped her out a bit with your puzzle so I’m sure she will figure it out.” 

“Right, well, I am going to head back to the door and say hi to some more people. It would appear that people are still trickling in. _Apparently_ , my 18th birthday Christmas Costume Party is the place to be.”

“Of course it is, have you seen you?” Nino teased.

Adrien chuckled briefly before replying, “Why do you think I take so long to get ready every day?” tossing his hair.

He made his way over to the door with minimal distraction. Only a hello here and there. He eventually made it to the door, ten minutes before the band was supposed to start playing the first song of the night; THE song he needed for his plan. He greeted Max in a Kakashi Hatake costume, noting that he had solved the puzzle that not all costumes had to be Ghibli. Chloe and Kagami walked in together as Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, and Kim came in dressed as Goku. 

Adrien looked back in the room as the music started to fade and the band took the stage. He signed deeply, trying to bury his disappointment. He knew Marinette tended to be late to things, but he didn’t know her to be an hour and a half late. The band had greeted everyone and explained that they were there to play a few tunes from the various shows and movies everyone had dressed up as. Adrien decided to look around and see if there were any other people dressed as Howl or Sophie that might get to enjoy the song that was about to play. He didn’t see anyone. There were plenty of costumes, but there were almost no doubles.

As the band began to hit their first note, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He quickly turned to see a breathless Marinette, dressed perfectly as Sophie Hatter from the end of the movie. A smile broke out on his face.

“Your hair, it looks like starlight,” he whispered.

“I had quite a time getting the color right,” Marinette mumbled. 

Adrien blinked a few times, before straightening up. “May I have this dance?” he asked, bowing slightly as he channeled his inner Howl offering his hand. A delighted smirk on his face. 

Marinette giggled and grabbed his hand in silent reply. 

“Why Howl, are you trying to eat my heart?” Marinette replied as she let him lead them both to the dance floor. They took up their stance and began waltzing. 

“Why of course, Princess, didn’t you hear? I only eat the hearts of the most beautiful of women,” he beamed down at her as he glided her through the waltz. Other couples had joined them on the dance floor, but they didn’t seem to notice. 

“I was worried you wouldn’t know that my message was coded,” Adrien confessed.

“I almost didn’t. I was all set to come as Nausicaa, but Max helped me by letting me know it was in base 64. After that, I figured it out,” Marinette explained.

“Well, I am glad you figured it out, because what is Howl without Sophie?” he asked.

“A heartless wizard stuck in a contract with a fire demon who doesn’t know how to clean,” she replied.

He couldn’t help but laugh at that one. 

As the music slowed to a stop, Adrien stepped back, and bowed, kissing the back of Marinette’s hand as he did. 

“Walk with me, please?” he asked her.

“Of course,” she smiled back.

Adrien tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and led her out the balcony doors into the back garden area. The music from the band could still be heard, and they played a more upbeat tune. 

“Marinette, I need to talk to you about something so important to me. I want to kind of get everything out there and then see where we go from there. Is that okay?” Adrien started.

“Oh, um, okay. I have something to say to you too,” she replied. 

“Mari, you should know that this last year, no, these last few months have been crazy,” he stated, eyes still forward as they walked. “I found out that my dad was the one terrorizing the city this whole time, found out where my mom was, and Nathalie was in on it, and through it all, you were always there for me. You are incredibly smart and kind and brave and amazing.” He stopped them in front of the statue of his mother. He turned to look Marinette in the eyes, “You have the most amazing smile, and I have come to rely so much on that smile in these last months. And I have so many things I want to say to you. But I have to be honest with you,” he could feel her stare at him but couldn’t look her in the eye. Instead, he looked up taking a deep breath before continuing, “Mari, if you solved your puzzle, which it looks like you did, then I think you already know, but I am Chat Noir.”

Adrien could feel a few tears start to fall down his cheek. This he expected. He had cried each time he practiced this speech. What he hadn’t expected, was Marinette reaching up and gently wiping his tears with her hand. 

“Do you want to continue?” she whispered.

He couldn’t reply, so he shook his head no, but quickly stopped as he remembered, “Oh wait, Plaag, say your line.”

Plagg flew out, wearing the little orange hat that might have been flames. With all the grump he could muster, the kwami looked at Adrien, then looked over at Marinette and sighed. “May all your Bacon Burn.” Then he flew back into his pocket. 

“Okay, that is it,” Adrien said, “Oh, and um, how do you feel about that?”

Mari gently grabbed Adrien’s hands and held them in her own. She placed a gentle kiss on top of his knuckles. 

“Well, first, I am a bit confused. I think you are confessing that you like me.”

“Ah, I-I am,” he stuttered back, pulling a hand away to rub the back of his neck. He felt his face go bright red. How had he forgotten that part? 

Marinette smiled sweetly at him then continued. “Well, in that case, you should know that I have loved you ever since the day on the steps when we were in the rain. You offered me not only an apology that was incredibly sincere but your umbrella as well.” Adrien stood shocked. Marinette smirked to herself as she continued, “As for the matter of you being Chat Noir, well, I knew that one before your puzzle as well.” 

“What, how?” Adrien asked.

“Well, you see,” Marinette replied, “I always know when it is my _Chaton_.” She let the last word roll off her tongue. Adrien felt an array of emotions, starting with confusion. Finally, his face lit up.

“My Lady!” he exclaimed.

As Marinette giggled to confirm if, he lifted her in the air. As he set her down, he chuckled.

“Well, I guess it makes sense that I would fall for you twice then,” he smiled at her.

“Wait, you seriously didn’t know I was Ladybug before this?” she asked, surprised.

“No, I didn’t. I felt torn about who I wanted to be with, but at the end of the day, it had to be you. But I suppose that makes sense when it was always you,” he replied, nuzzling the top of her head. “How did you know though?” he asked lazily.

“During the final battle. I didn’t mean to find out, but I did.”

He tilted her face up towards his and smiled. “Your hair really does look like starlight.”

A small cough came from his pocket, reminding him of the rest of his plan.

“Oh, that’s right!” Adrien exclaimed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small silver ring with a single red stone in the middle. “Marinette, My Lady, will you go out with me?”

Marinette looked down at the ring, an exact replica of the one Howl gave Sophie to guide her home. “Chaton, isn’t it early to propose?”

“Uh, no, it is a promise ring,” Adrien stuttered out, obviously flustered, “It is uh, ah-”

Marinette giggled, calming all his nerves. “Of course, I will. I love you Chaton, more than ever.” She held out her hand for him and put the promise ring on her left pointer finger, just as Howl had for Sophie. 

Adrien cupped Marinette’s face, lifting it to his slowly as she giggled. Then he gently kissed her and she kissed him back. They stood there for a while, content kissing and in each other’s embrace. Eventually, though they knew they had been gone from the party for too long and needed to get back.

“I think we ought to live happily ever after,” Adrien whispered to her, as they headed back.

“Did you just quote the book at me?” Marinette whispered at him.

“It should be hair-raising,” Adrien continued.

“And you’ll exploit me,” Marinette said, continuing the quote for his amusement.

“And then you’ll cut up all my suits to teach me.” Adrien pulled her close for one more kiss.

“You’re a dork,” Marinette giggled against his lips.

“Hmmm,” he replied, “but I am yours.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to bananafreckles for beta-ing!


End file.
